A third of LAUSD's English learners fail

Almost a third of all English-language learners in Los Angeles Unified are not considered proficient by the end of eighth grade - putting them at higher risk of dropping out, according to a report released Wednesday by USC.

And more than half of students placed in the remedial language programs were born in the United States, the study said, while three-quarters remained in the classes for at least eight years while attending LAUSD schools.

"What we are seeing is a significant number of young people get into the ELL program and never get out," said Harry Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, which conducted the study.

"It is easier to be shunted into the system than to be shunted out."

"Que Pasa?: Are English Language Learning Students Remaining in English Learning Classes Too Long?" tracked more than 28,000 LAUSD students from 1999 through 2005 and found that those who were removed from English-learner classes, even as late as eighth grade, had a better chance of graduating from high school, taking advanced placement classes and going to college.

One-third of the roughly 700,000 students in Los Angeles Unified are English learners.

District officials said that to matriculate from ELL classes, students must score as proficient in English on state tests, but also must meet benchmarks in grade-level standards - a feat not achieved by a significant number of students district-wide regardless of their language ability.

"We would agree we are not doing as well as we should be for our English learner students ... We are finding these processes entrenched in the district that are not good for families or for kids," said Judy Eliott, LAUSD's chief instructional officer.

"We also recognize this is not just an LAUSD issue, but an issue across California and the country."

Elliott said the district has launched an aggressive program of reclassifying students to address this issue.

This year alone, a team of district officials was able to identify more than 5,600 students who met the criteria to matriculate from the ELL program.

The year before, only 500 students were reclassified districtwide.

"We will also focus on tracking our students better, monitoring their progress and providing teachers with the strategies they need to ensure all students are getting a rigorous instructional program," said Mary Campbell, the LAUSD administrator in charge of ELL programs.

School board president Monica Garcia said she was pleased to see the district make some progress but that the findings of this study stress the need for urgency in improving services.

"We have to continually ratchet up our efforts and move as quickly as possible. The stakes are high for our kids and for our communities," Garcia said.

Still, for many longtime advocates of English learner and bilingual students, the study underscores their belief that LAUSD has failed to address the needs of a large percentage of its students.

"We've seen district leadership adopt programs that don't address the needs of these students," said Alex Reza, a retired LAUSD teacher and longtime education advocate.

"Despite all the data, it seems like we are inching like snails to serve English-learner students."